Dear parents/caregivers,

Over the past week there have been two very successful student-led events. ‘Nayland’s Got Talent’ was held last Friday in the school hall. It is always an entertaining afternoon and congratulations to Will Roddick and Ruby Burr, overall winners. See the highlights attached to this article. Earlier this week we also held our annual ‘Op Shop Prom’, once again this was a very successful evening. It was amazing to see so many students from different year levels enjoying themselves and getting into the movie themed spirit of the event.

Good luck to all of our teams travelling across the South Island for tournament week. I wish you all the best in your respective competitions.

Earlier this week I sent out a message regarding student safety. I have replicated this email below for those of you that may not have had the chance to read it.

Use of Social Media

This is an issue I have written about frequently. Unfortunately, like every other school, Nayland College must occasionally deal with the fallout from events happening outside of the school and outside of our control, often fuelled by social media. We are currently attempting to resolve several incidents that have been exacerbated by use of social media and the internet. It is my belief that students in the junior school do not usually have the maturity to use social media appropriately. If your child is using social media I would appreciate that you take the time to discuss the following points:

Online abuse and bullying
One in five young people in New Zealand have been the target of online bullying. Talking to students about how you expect them to behave towards others online can be very beneficial. Points you can raise include:

• Let them know that if it’s not acceptable offline, it’s not acceptable online
• Ask your kids to think about the person on the “other side” of the screen
• Lead by example – think about how you’re behaving toward others online

The following link provides further information about how to deal with online bullying.

Sexting
When it’s appropriate please talk to your child about the risks of sharing personal information and sexual images and what can happen to those photos or videos once created and shared. A good rule of thumb is that if you would not show an image to your grandparents, you should not be sending it online. Once an image has been sent online it can never be fully recovered.

The following link provides more detail about sexting and how to deal with it.

We have arranged for the New Zealand Police to speak with all our year 9 classes about the use of social media and the legal ramifications involved. Helpful advice can also be found at netsafe.org.nz.

Safety at the school gate

Parents and teachers who use the southern gateway to the school will be aware of what a congested area this at peak times when the majority of students are either accessing or leaving the school at the same time.

At present, this problem is exacerbated by the number of construction vehicles needing to access the site as well.

In the interests of student safety, we ask you to adhere to the sign at the gate which asks you to avoid using that entrance between 8.30 – 9.00am and 3.00 – 3.30pm.

Thank you for your contribution to ensuring the safety of all students.

Ngā mihi nui

Daniel Wilson
Principal